A South Carolina mother revealed the heartbreaking moment she saw her 13-year-old son dead in the yard after falling victim to a Snapchat sextortion plot.
Timothy Barnett’s body was first discovered in the family’s driveway in Sumter, about an hour from Columbia, by his stepfather, Geoffrey Hauptman, around 6:30 a.m. on April 6 of last year.
Geoffery, who initially thought “someone was sleeping in the yard,” quickly called his wife, Timothy’s mother, Betsy Hauptman. In what became the worst moment of their lives, they realized that Timothy had committed suicide.
‘I woke up to a nightmare,’ Betsy Fox News.
About six months later, Betsy realized that Timothy had been the victim of a Snapchat sextortion scheme, when a criminal persuades a victim to send graphic videos and images online in exchange for money or more explicit content.
Timothy Barnett, 13, committed suicide in his family’s driveway on April 6, 2023 in Sumter, South Carolina.
Betsy and Timothy’s father, Jamie Barnett, immediately involved the Sumter Police Department, but the case was eventually closed and ruled a suicide investigation.
The family asked the FBI for help in finding the suspect who led Timothy to his sudden death, and on May 17 they filed a lawsuit against Snapchat for playing a role in his tragic loss.
Betsy, who said she “had no idea what sextortion was,” explained that she and her husband made sure to keep a close eye on their children’s social media and phone use.
“I’ve always tried to make sure my kids are as safe as possible,” Betsy said. The mail and the messenger.
In a Facebook post about the horrible loss of her son, Betsy said that just before she took her life, Timothy “sat in the driveway in the wee hours of the morning, pleading with someone on Snapchat not to post anything online.” “.
Initially, the local police department confiscated Timothy’s iPhone and a Chromebook issued by his school, Alice Drive Middle School.
After accessing the teen’s iCloud account, authorities discovered nearly a dozen suicide notes written to Timothy’s family and friends, as well as a history of calls to a number with a New York area code.
Further investigation revealed that the number was sending Timothy links to Snapchat and that the teen had another account, unknown to his parents, that was allegedly managed by a stranger.
His mother, Betsy Hauptman, later discovered that her son had been the victim of a sextortion scheme on Snapchat.
Betsy and Timothy’s father, Jamie Barnett, immediately involved the Sumter Police Department, but the case was eventually closed and ruled a suicide investigation.
In that account, police discovered that Timothy and a stranger were discussing a payment of $35 a day through the CashApp payment platform.
In exchange for the money, Timothy had asked the stranger to promise not to share a sexually explicit photo of himself that he had shared on Snapchat.
Police discovered that the person Timothy was messaging was posing as a woman and that his parents and friends had no idea about his online interactions.
Snapchat is known for its rapid photo sharing technology that deletes submitted images within 24 hours.
Although Betsy said she tried to be as vigilant as possible by performing “random checks” on her children’s phones “at least twice a week,” the deletion feature in the app went unnoticed by her and her husband.
“Hindsight is 20/20, and I really wish we at least hadn’t allowed Snapchat,” he told Fox News.
Despite finding a large amount of evidence linking Timothy to Snapchat, the Sumter Police Department closed the case and said it was not their responsibility to find out why Timothy decided to take his life.
Initially, the local police department confiscated Timothy’s iPhone and a Chromebook given to him by his school, Alice Drive Middle School (pictured).
After the Sumter Police Department closed Timothy’s case, Betsy decided to contact the FBI in hopes of finding the person behind her son’s death.
She soon resigned from the local police force and decided to contact the FBI herself.
“Unfortunately, I can’t depend on my city’s police department to do their job properly and provide information to those who need it, to those who can actually do something,” he said.
The teen’s father, Jamie, is as frustrated with the police department as his ex-wife.
“I will not allow these Sumter police officers to dump your body without telling the FBI that you were brutally attacked by predators,” Jamie said on Facebook alongside a photo of him and his late son at a football game.
Timothy’s parents decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Snapchat alleging that the California-based social media platform was “defectively designed” and “unreasonably dangerous” to minors like their son.
The lawsuit added that the platform is “unsafe” because it does not have an age verification feature and lacks parental controls.
“It is well documented that sexual predators use (Snap Inc.’s) product to target and exploit minors,” the lawsuit says.
“They are attracted to social media because it gives them easy access to a large group of potential victims, many of whom are addicted to the defendant’s product.”
The lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages, including burial costs and legal fees the family has endured.
The legal filing will join a pending litigation claim in the Northern District of California against multiple social media platforms that have harmed children like Timothy.
The family asked the FBI for help in finding the suspect who led Timothy to his sudden death, and on May 17 they filed a lawsuit against Snapchat for playing a role in his tragic loss. (pictured: Timothy and his father Jamie)
A Snapchat spokesperson told Fox News: “What happened to Timothy is devastating and our hearts go out to his family during this unimaginable time.”
‘We have zero tolerance for predators who prey on young people on Snapchat and are constantly working to combat this horrific activity. We use proactive detection tools to find and eliminate these types of criminals and work around the clock to support investigations.
‘We offer additional safeguards for teens to protect against unwanted contact and do not offer public friend lists, which helps prevent predators from targeting a teen’s friends.
“We also want to help young people learn the signs of extortion and have launched in-app education to raise awareness on how to spot and report it,” the spokesperson said.
His parents remember Timothy as a bright, happy boy who loved karate, going to the beach, and playing saxophone in his school band.
His parents remember Timothy as a bright, happy boy who loved karate, going to the beach, and playing saxophone in his school band.
They also remembered their son as an honors student who was the “life of the party.”
“He was just a fool,” Betsy said.
To this day, Betsy and Jamie have stopped at nothing to find out who caused their son to take his life.
“I will not rest and die on the hill to find the person who did this,” Betsy said.
“I feel so sick to my stomach thinking about this – the entire situation is disgusting, from the person who did this to Timothy, to the way the Sumter Police Department handled this case and is still handling it.”
In a March Facebook post, Jamie tagged the Sumter Police Department in a photo of newborn Timothy wrapped in his father’s U.S. Air Force uniform.
“This is Timothy, who I didn’t get to meet until he was eight months old when I came back from Afghanistan,” he said.
‘The Sumter Police Department says your name!! Absolutely no investigation into children should be closed like this, but you’ve messed with the wrong man who won’t let it go because I know what’s right.’